KARA are a four-piece folk quartet based in Kings Langley. Rosy Moorhead sits down with the band to discuss their debut album and Midsomer Murders.

Who’s in KARA?

Gary Holbrook on accordion, Ben Honey on guitar, Daria Kulesh on vocals, and Kate Rouse on hammered dulcimer.

How did you all meet?

Gary and Ben have been playing together on the folk and ceilidh circuit for many years. Daria met Ben and Gary at Uxbridge Folk Club in February 2013 where Daria came to do a floor spot. Then Daria met Kate when they both performed at St Albans Music Week in March 2013.

Who are your influences?

We like to think that we are quite original, yet influenced by all sorts of good music. Kate is entrenched in English folk, Daria is more on the eclectic world music and fantasy side, with some Russian drama thrown in, Ben is rooted in the solid English singer-songwriter tradition with cheeky forays into jazz, funk and whatever you fancy, while Gary adds Irish craic and French charm to the mix.

Tell me about the new album, Waters So Deep.

It is a whimsical and haunting collection of mostly self-penned songs, inspired by Russian folklore and more contemporary themes. It takes you on a journey from the quaint towns of Atlantic Canada to the sometimes mean streets of Lille in France, from the mystical Russian north to the far more familiar Isle of Wight.

Does Kings Langley make it into your songs/sound at all?

As for Kings Langley the village, there’s more beneath the surface than meets the eye, lurking in the Waters So Deep. We have a very Midsomer Murders song on our album, called Hunter’s Moon, about naughty things that happen in small communities when no one is looking...

Where would we have seen you perform recently?

We’ve just finished our album launch tour of 15 gigs in one and a half months. The highlights were launching the album at Watford Folk Club on Friday the 13th with a full moon, supporting folk star Lucy Ward at Ickenham Village Hall and opening Dacorum Folk Fest in Hemel Hempstead.